New national president for AIA Melbourne-based architect Karl Fender has been appointed the Australian Institute of Architects’ 71st national president.

Fender is the founding director of architectural practice Fender Katsalidis and has been the design director of numerous major urban projects.

His practice is known for its work in the Docklands precinct in Melbourne; the NewActon East building in Canberra; and, most recently, for the under-construction ‘Little Hero’ building in Melbourne’s CBD with apartment modules assembled on-site in a two week period using a new approach to pre-fabrication.

Fender was the president of the Victorian Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects for the term 2008-2010. He gained his Master of Architecture at Harvard University and spent many years living and practising in London, Rome, Paris, Boston, Hong Kong and Bangkok.

As national president, his key priorities over the coming 12 months are to focus on:

• sustainable communities, cities and architecture

• furthering dialogue between the Federal Government and the profession on a range of issues and projects, particularly the establishment of an Australian Government Architect position within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet

• planning reform

• championing an urbanist view of the future of Australian cities

• fostering the Institute and architecture community working in Australia and offshore

Fender will be sworn in as national president today at the Institute’s 2010 annual general meeting, with his term starting immediately. He succeeds ACT green architect Melinda Dodson, the youngest president to head the Institute in its 80-year history and only the second female.

"At this point in time, the profession of architecture in Australia is facing an encouraging and positive future. Recent discussions with a wide range of stakeholders now indicate that architects are increasingly being regarded as agents of change capable of bringing about a better quality of life through the creation of sustainable, best-designed built environments," Fender says.

"In the year ahead, we will continue to make inroads with our partners to produce research designed to encourage more informed debate on issues such as cities of the future, climate change, distributed resources and zero residential emissions.

"[The] alliance between the Institute, Planning Institute of Australia, Property Council of Australia, Green Building Council of Australia and Consult Australia continues to develop as a strong and close collaboration, offering an opportunity to explore the economic, social, environmental and governance issues that help shape national prosperity.

"This year, we’re taking this exchange to the next level, commissioning KPMG to conduct an audit of each capital city’s metropolitan strategy and how they perform against COAG’s nine key objectives for sustainable cities."